If you have had enough of doom and gloom and neat categories and bleak outlooks, then this is the book for you!
The protagonist, Imogen, is uplifting in every way. She has been carried on her mother’s back as a baby and toddler, and perhaps this is where her lightness of being originates.
She was born from a golden egg, and she spreads warmth and healing wherever she goes.
To those who long for gravitas in literature, fear not. This novel does not gloss over weighty themes. It is set in an Africa we know. Harsh realities of crime, violence, disease, brutality: they are still present. But somehow Genie (Imogen) transcends them.
She is rooted in African soil, but like a sunflower, she seeks the sunshine and you will love the way she soars.
THRUST
The novel pushes us to examine several ‘ologies’: Genealogy, history, teleology, epistemology and epidemiology. We have challenges thrust upon us, for as we journey through time with ordinary and extraordinary people, we begin to question our own origins and context. From where did we emanate, what are our great loves, what role does art and music play in our lives, what is growing and what is dying?
DRAG
It would be easy to allow our sensibilities to be dragged down: we see homophobia, loss, death, disease, abuse of power. Instead, the intrepid Genie tugs us towards a certainty that life – however troubled – still affords one the chance to make a difference. Whether you are a bureaucrat, artist, farmer, a rape victim, someone with Alzheimer’s, a doctor, academic, street dweller or war veteran, you have the ability to tend to those near you, and offer hope and love.
WEIGHT
The issues raised in this magical, moving novel are weighty ones. Don’t let this deter you!
We often face setworks that bog us down in depressing debates about history, racism, corruption, despair …
This novel reminds us that even amid dark and troubling times, there are still miracles. People connect. Disbelievers come to a place of faith. Beauty is wrought out of scrap metal. Love is real. Elephants swim. We feel a lightness of being when we are reminded that there are still things that are precious and beautiful.
Take flight, English teachers. With this novel, “You become aware of your place in the world … You understand that in the grander scheme of things you are but a speck … a tiny spec k… and that is enough h… it is the kind of knowledge that finally quiets you. It is the kind of knowledge that allows you to fly.”